Howard the Duck

Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck #1 (Jan. 1976), with series co-star Beverly Switzler in background. Cover art by Frank Brunner.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Adventure into Fear #19 (Dec. 1973)
Created by	Steve Gerber (Writer) Val Mayerik (Artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Howard
Team affiliations	Circus of Crime Defenders All-Night Party Daydreamers A.R.M.O.R. Fearsome Four Ducky Dozen
Partnerships	Man-Thing Beverly Switzler
Notable aliases	Son of Satan, Leonard the Duck, Howard the Human, Iron Duck, Agent Duck, Cynical Duck
Abilities	Master of Quack-Fu Minimal magic manipulation As Iron Duck: Armored suit grants: Superhuman strength and durability Foot-mounted leaping coils Chest-mounted searchlight Flamethrowers in both arms

Howard the Duck is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck first appeared in Adventure into Fear #19 (cover-dated Dec. 1973) and several subsequent series have chronicled the misadventures of the ill-tempered, anthropomorphic, "funny animal" trapped on human-dominated Earth.

Howard's adventures are generally social satires, while a few are parodies of genre fiction with a metafictional awareness of the medium. The book is existentialist, and its main joke, according to Gerber, is that there is no joke: "that life's most serious moments and most incredibly dumb moments are often distinguishable only by a momentary point of view." This is diametrically opposed to screenwriter Gloria Katz, who, in adapting the comic to the screen, declared, "It's a film about a duck from outer space... It's not supposed to be an existential experience". Howard the Duck was portrayed by Ed Gale and voiced by Chip Zien in the 1986 Howard the Duck film adaptation, and was later voiced by Seth Green in the film Guardians of the Galaxy.

Howard the Duck was created by writer Steve Gerber and penciler Val Mayerik in Adventure into Fear #19 (Dec. 1973) as a secondary character in that comic's "Man-Thing" feature. He graduated to his own backup feature in Giant-Size Man-Thing #4–5 (May and Aug. 1975), confronting such bizarre horror-parody characters as Hellcow and the Man-Frog, before acquiring his own comic book title with Howard the Duck #1 in 1976.